I agree with all this. However, it is really hard to know what it is like behind closed doors. We have literally no idea of what the perception of DR is. Is he the yin to Feaster's yang? Maybe. Or maybe he is just a normal GM - not that many trades happen around the league, and DR must have made more in the last 2 years than most GMs
I also don't criticise DR for not 'fire selling' players for the sake of it - e.g. Stafford is more useful to us than a late 2nd rounder, who will probably never make the NHL, until we are cap strapped